Jonathan Offt

Official Homepage

nonprofit

LA Nonprofit Formed to Advance Charter Schools

by

A group of parents in the Californian city of Los Angeles have banded together in an effort to improve the education system in the city (or harm it, depending on who’s side you’re taking in this battle). Spearheaded by the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, the organization is called Great Public Schools Now and has a drafted proposal calling for $490 million to enroll half of the students in the L.A. Unified School District over the next 8 years. With the nonprofit being run by two executives from ExED, a company that helps manage charters schools and their business operations, there is a real hope in many parents that the educational quality in the city will improve if the proposal is accepted.Education_by_mayani_online

In an interview on Tuesday, the two executives from ExED (William E.B. Siart and Anita Landecker) said that the goal of the nonprofit was to develop high quality schools of all kinds, not just charter schools and that no funding target has been set. Aside from working to create more charter schools, the nonprofit is also going to try to replicate or expand successful public school models that have been shown to work in traditionally underperforming schools. While these are nice sentiments, it should be known that recognized that the L.A Unified Board of Education has had no say whatsoever in the drafting of the proposal and is actually scheduled to vote next week on a resolution to oppose this plan.

There are a number of reasons that this attempt to change the L.A. educational landscape is running into opposition and concerned parents. One of the main reasons people are speaking out against it is that this would be a massive expansion of charter schools that aren’t held to the same level of accountability as public schools are. This expansion would also threaten the solvency of L.A. Unified and leave it with fewer resources and flexibility to deal with children who are more expensive to educate. Other groups are upset that the plan was developed in private with no input from outside sources. Regardless of the people for or against the proposal, the passing of it would result in some massive changes in the way children are educated in Los Angeles.

If you’d like to read more, the link is here.

Blue Shield Accused of Backing Out of Charity Pledge

by

Regulators and consumer groups in the state of California are currently engaged in a battle with one of the country’s largest insurance companies in an attempt to make them follow through with a promise to pay out to charity. It turns out that in return for approval for a $1.2 billion buyout of Medicaid insurer Care1st Health Plan, Blue Shield promised that it would pay $14 million every year for 10 years to either Blue Shield’s foundation or other charities, in addition to any payments it was already planning on making. While the buyout was a huge deal and this deal was necessary to have it happen, $140 million over 10 years is a lot of money and Blue Shield is trying to get away from that promise.insurance

Blue Shield executives are arguing that the original agreement called for only a minimum donation of $14 million a year and that they weren’t required to go over their normal giving of about $35 million a year. Obviously, both consumer advocates and governmental regulatory committees are not ok with Blue Shield trying to escape its philanthropic requirements and are currently working to force the company to stick to its agreement, especially since it ended up succeeding in its buyout attempts. Shelley Rouillard, director of the Department of Managed Health Care, has also spoken about her disappointment with the firm and has reached out in an attempt to mend the issue so that the philanthropic donations happen.

This isn’t the first time that Blue Shield has recently been in the news. California recently took away the company’s long-held tax exemption for numerous reasons. Among the reasons was the state auditors at the California Franchise Tax Board found that the insurer had $4 billion surplus and was failing to offer more affordable coverage even though it considered itself a nonprofit. Part of this recent push by officials to get Blue Shield to live up to its philanthropic promises is to force the company to act like the nonprofit that it claims to be. The extra donations are the best way to do this and regain the trust of Californian consumers — now we just have to wait and see how the company reacts.

If you’d like to read more, the link is here.

This Celeb-Backed Nonprofit Wants to Turn Ideas into Reality

by

When people think of Lupe Fiasco, they usually think of hit songs like “Kick Push” and “The Show Goes On”. If they know more about him, they might also think of his various fashion lines and the work he has done in collaboration with fashion labels and charities across the country. Now, you can add one more item to this growing list: philanthropic entrepreneur. While Lupe has been involved with various charities and nonprofits since his career began, his newest venture is aimed at so much more than just philanthropy — it’s looking to give people a helping hand by presenting them with the opportunity to do so based on their ideas and hard work.

neighborhood startup fund
Image via Neighborhood Start-up Fund

Lupe has teamed up with a member of the Waze team, entrepreneur Di-Ann Eisnor, to launch Neighborhood Start Fund. This is a unique nonprofit that does more than just help people when it comes to charity and helping the underserved. The purpose of the organization is to turn communities and neighborhoods into incubators for invention and opportunity by rewarding people who have truly valid ideas with the money and support needed to turn their ideas into a reality. The group is going to travel to neighborhoods across the country and host “idea competitions”. People will present their ideas to a panel of judges from industries including food, retail, entertainment, and technology. These judges will then choose the best idea from those who entered, with the winner getting $5,000 to turn their idea into a working prototype that can be used to get further funding and create a working business.

This is a new sort of approach to the troubles that some philanthropies and nonprofits run into — once you’ve given the help, what happens next? The rewarding of what basically amounts to grant money for the construction of a working prototype is a huge incentive to would-be inventors who frequently struggle to get the seed money they need to get to the prototype level. Winning (and even just signing up) also gets you much more than just the money needed to begin prototype construction. Everyone gets access to workshops, mentors, and networking opportunities that are aimed at giving every neighborhood the chance to become an economic engine in and of itself.

If you’d like to read more, the link is here.